Supporting grille-blades from radiator shells



April 9, 1935. L. B. GREEN SUPPORTING GRILLE BLADES FROM RADIATOR SHELLS Filed Oct. 20, 1934 f ve/7190f A grecfl in its general objects aims to provide both anovel I blades extend; so

Patented Apr. 9 1935 j ,1 QS ATE PATENT o. FFICE SUPPORTING GRILLE-BLADES FROM QBAD IATOR SHELLS V t l Lee B.Green,'-I Lakewood, Ohio, assignor tog'lhe Q; 1 .Globe Machine,&"St-amping Company, Cleve Y land, Ohio, a corporationof Ohio V solaims. tomes-.54) A My invention relates" tofmetal grilles'fwr uards) of the classinjwhich generally parallel grille blades- (or guard] bars), are fastenedat their ends respectivelyto two end members; and

arrangement for fanch orirlg Qthe blades to? the end'membe'rs, and novel means for, fastening these end "members-tothefapertured member spanned aperture formed so as to presentin te'gral hook fingers which can readily j be bent into engagement with such ledges-onth'e end Whichhas itsapertu're guardedb'y the'grijlle'Q y, When a parallel-bladed grille is used for guarding the airs-admitting openingin the" so-called radiator shell of a modern passengerjautomobile,

this grill usually-includes substantially upright.

blades spanning two generally horizontal end xm'embers. These end members are desirablyfastened to the rearwa rd ior inner fa'ce 'of the front member of the radiator shell, respectively above andbelowthe aperture across which the grille that the end'members willbe concealed. T v

. Inflthe earlier. practice, such endmembers of a grille were sometimes fastened'jtothe soj-called radiator shellfront by bolts, each extending both through the "said front and through one oi the end members. But suoha boltarrangement hasthe serious objection that it requires thejlateral,

spacing of the bolt-receiving perforations in each end member to correspond exactly withthat of perforations in "the radiator I shell front, and

' likewise requires the vertical spacing of the apertures in the two end members to correspond exactly with. the spacing between corresponding perforations "in the upper and lower por-' tions of the radiator shell front; thereby demanding a greater exactness in the boring of the said shell front and more particularly in the manor facture of the grille than is consistent with the economical production of such a grille. Moreover, any boltheads or nuts exposedon the front of the radiator shell detract from the ornamental design of such a frontalautomobilepart;

Furthermore, many types of end members heretofore used in parallel-bladed grilles do not lend themselves readily to the providing of suitably positioned bolt-receiving apertures, unless such end members are modified by attachingauxiliary flanges 0r brackets at a considerable additional cost. So also, the quite extensively used head (or forwardly convexed moulding) formation around the aperture in a radiator shell front would not afford the flat bearing for bolt-heads which usually is essential for firmness.

In one of its major objects, my invention aims to provide a simple, light and inexpensive end member for agrille, designed so as to'bear directly'againstthe inner face of a radiator shell front "(or other apertured grille supporting member) and presenting a ledge in eonvenient'position for engagement by hook elementson the said shell front. ledges on the end membersof the grille, my in- To cooperate with such hook-engaging ventio'n also aimsto provide a radiator shell front having the portions adjacent to the blade membersof a. grille, and also formed 'so that these hook fingers can anchorthe grille firmly said aperture. Furthermore; my invention: aims;

to arrange the just recited'hook fingerpro'vision so as to allow for manufacturing [variations in the dimensions of the grille, and so, as. to facil itate the attaching of the grille to the radiator shell front. r v f In another major object, my invention aims to provide anovel. and inexpensive arrangement; for anchoring generally flat grille blades to end bers For this purpose my. invention 'aimsftc provide botha novel blade-end construction and corresponding -forrnations onthe end members ofthe grilletand also aims to disposethese features of the end members so that they will ei fectively cooperate with the previously recited fastening of the end membersto the radiator shell for positioning the, grille so that both "its endrnembers and the juncture of the grille blade portions with these end members will be con} cealed by the. radiator shell front.

.Illustrative'of the manner in which i acco 1n adjacent portion of the radiatorshell front, taken from thelrear and with a blade omitted to show the corresponding perforation inthe end 'nein f ber.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged and fragmentary rearfelevation of the part of the radiator shell front adjjacent to the top of the aperture in the said shell front, showing the hook finger elements as initially formed. a I a l 4 is a perspective view of the upper end portion of one of the blades, taken before the blade 'was iattached' to an end member.

other hand, the end member ofFigs; 1' and 2 may be provided with an auxiliary stiffening web 40 as head around the edge of the shell aperture, this can readily be afforded by attaching a separate- 1y formed moulding M having recurved-flanges bearing against the flat-sectioned 'shell "front part I l which isin front of 'the'interiorfiange H].

In manufacturing my; here 5 presented grille;

blades of suitable length can first berigidly cross connected by tie-bars 8, as in Figs. 1' and5, and each endmember may consist of a strip of steel formed to the needed unequal-angled channel section and having its wider channel web provided with the suitably spaced slots S. The up-- per tabs 2 (Fig. 4) of allblades can then be slid simultaneously through the slots in the wider web W of the upper end member, after which the projecting portions of all of these tabs can be clinched against that web by asingle punchpress operation. The other ends of "the blades can then similarly be speedily fastened to the lower end member, so that the entire assembly of the grille is both expeditious andlow in cost.

Moreover, when each slot S in an end member corresponds substantially in its bore section to that of a blade tab 2, this interfitting oflthe slots and tabs cooperates with the tie-bars 8 to prevent all relative movement of the blades. Consequently, I can firmly anchor the blades to the end bars even when the inward faces of the slotted web (W or W are curved as in Fig.5

so that these faces will engage only. partofthe adjacent end of the tubular part of each blade.

' So also, the simplicity of my provisions for anchoring the end memberswto the radiator shell will be obvious; and it will be noted that neither these anchoringprovisions nor the assembling of the grille include any auxiliary fastening .elements, or requires any welding orbrazing operations. I

However, While I have heretofore described the end members of a grille as including a rearwardly extending web having slots through which endwardly projecting tab portions of blades can be clinched, and also including a second rearwardly extending web disposed for engagement with hook fingers on a radiator shell front, I do not wish to be limited to the conjoint use of these or other features of my invention.

be made without departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims, and e that both my grille-blade and end-bar assembly and of my hookingly supporting such as assembly wouldalso be advantageous in connection with other grille-supporting members than a radiator shell. For example, ifmy grille is to guard an airadmitting aperture in a side wall of an air-conditioning unit, each end member might be of the simple angle-iron sectionshown in Fig. 6, in which this member merely comprises a slotted web W (as in Fig. 2 or 6) and a stiffening web M de- I pending fromthe rear edge of the web W. On the showninFig.7.

i. a So also,thecross-sectional shape of theblades may be varied,. s'o long as the-lend tabsof these blades substantially fit the slots through which they are clinched. Thus, Fig. 9 showsthe upper end portion ofan entirely; flat blade l5 which has no ornamentaltubular frontal portion, and

which would' servefor a=frontal grille onautomobile; trucks. 1.

I claim as my invention: 1. The combination with 'a. substantially up right supporting member having anraperture, of a grillecomprising two rearwardly open channelsectioned end members disposed behind the sup.- portingmember and extending respectively adja centto two opposite sides'of the aperture, and

grillef elements spanning the aperture and fase tened at each end to the channel web of theadjae' cent end member which is nearest to the said aperture; each end member having its chamelback bearing forwardly against thesupporting '7 member; the supporting member having two rows of fingers extending rearwardly from it respectively'adjacent to the other channel web of one f of the end members, and each of the said fingers having its tip portion hooked over the free edg of the channel-web adjacent to it.

2. .A supporting member and grille combination as per claim 1,= in which each of the said fingers bears flatwise against the outer face of the channel-web over'the free edge of which the tip por-.

4. A supporting member and grille combination 7 as per claim 1, in which the two end members have alined perforations in the channel webs thereof which are nearest to the said aperture, and in which each end of a blade has two longitudinallyspaced portions thereof respectively en web .of the end member which is adjacent to. that blade end.

5. A supporting member and grille combination as per claim 1, in whichthe two end members have alined perforations. in the channel webs thereof which are nearest to the said aperture, and in which the grille elements areblades; each end part of a blade comprising a forward portion abutting endwise against the perforated channel web of the end member adjacent to that r blade end part, and a rearward portion extending So also, it should be obvious that many changes e from the heretofore described embodiment might,

through a perforation of the same channel web and having its tip bent into engagement with theinner face of thesaid same channel web.

the said member adjacenttoopposite ends of the said aperture being recurved rearwardly to constitute two flanges each extending radially outward of the said aperture behind an adjacent frontal'portion of thesupporting member, the supporting member including spaced fingers pro jecting rearwardly from thefree edge .of each flange; two rearwardly open channelesectioned 'end members. eachiextending longitudinally of oneof the. said aperture ends and each having its channel-back bearing forwardly against one,

gaging the two sides of the perforated channel V 6. In combination, a sheet metal supporting member provided with an aperture, the parts of a of the said flanges; the fingers projecting from each of the said flanges'being hookedover the free; edge of that channel-web of the end mem beradjacent totlie, said'flange which is farthest from the aperture; and guard elements spanning and secured to the other two ohannel wlebs of the endrmenibers. f

' '7. Acombinati'ori of a supporting member, end. members and guard elements as per claim 6, in

' which each of the said fingers bears against the outward face of the channel-web of the adjacent 8.; A grille comprising spacedand g'en'erally fiat blades presenting their flat faces'substantially parallel to each other and presenting their torwardedges in a common frontal surface,- each blade'end part having its rearward portion longer than its forward portion; and twoend members each including a web extending approximatelyat' right angles to the said frontal surface and wider than the blades; the said; webs of the two end members having alined perforationsspaced rearwardly ,from the forward edges of the said webs,

through which perforations the longer end parts of the blades are clinched; and each blade'having the'forward and shorter portion of each end part of the blade abutting along substantially the en-' tire width of this end part against a portion of the adjaoentend member whichisforward of the perforations. in thatend; member. 

